Wolves legend Steve Bull believes club needs to spend £50m to stay in the Premier League next season.

That’s the tall order the legendary striker believes Wolves must manage to survive after they achieved Premier League status.

He said: “We can all say £30million, £40million, £50million or £60million, but I’d say £50million is just a base figure, because you’ve got to buy the players and then pay their wages.“

“So that probably only equates to about five players in terms of fees and wages. It is a lot of money, but it all depends on how much they want to stop up there.

“People looking at this might think ‘we need double or treble that’. But for me, £50million is a starting point.

“I don’t know whether they need to invest it all now, but I think they need to invest it wisely and at the right time.”

The club record 306-goal scorer also revealed that club owner Steve Morgan is looking for more than mere survival next season.

Bully said: “I said to Steve Morgan that if we could do a Stoke, I’d be happy – just to get fourth from bottom.

“But he shook his head and said, ‘no I want to be higher in the league’. So he’s anticipating us being higher rather than just surviving.”

The former England international believes McCarthy needs a minimum of five signings.

He said: “I think we need two centre-halves, two midfielders and a front man.

“That will do me fine for starters and I think it will do Mick as well.

“They need to give the youngsters a chance first, with the experienced players and then add to it as the season goes on, as the manager feels certain players may need replacing.

“I think the nucleus is there, but we need experience to get us through.”